Seeking Balance in a Changing North
The 5th NRF Open Assembly was held in Anchorage, Alaska in 24th - 27th of September 2008. The proceedings from the Open Assembly inlcude papers written by Panelists, Young Researchers, Position Papers authors and other contributors. Furthermore, special rapporteur presentations were prepared by the Young Researchers from each session and discussion group of the Open Assembly.
The titles of the plenary sessions were the following: The Future of Northern Co-operation, The Accessible Arctic in the Global Economy and Leadership in the Age of Uncertainty. Apart from the plenary sessions, the program also consisted of open discussion in breakout sessions, special roundtable discussions about the Arctic Council and multilateral cooperation, theme project group discussions and one project session
The Theme Project Group roundtable discussions (with one project session) were the following: Future of Northern Cooperation: Legal and Political Issues, Economies in the North -Migration, Energy Issues, Northern Sea Routes and Climate Change - Northern Security/ies. The title of the Project Session was: How do we sustain and build healthy northern communities.
To view the Proceedings from the 5th NRF Open Assembly in Anchorage, Alaska, click on the active links below.
Opening Session
- Introductory speech
Lassi Heininen - Report from the Opening Session
Rapporteur: Tristan Pearce
Plenary Session I: The Future of Northern Cooperation
- A Vision for a North Atlantic Security and Surveillance Organization
Rasmus Bertelsen, PhD Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge - B/ordering North: Russia and the Balance of Northern Co-operation
Jussi Laine, Doctoral student of the Department of Geography, University of Joensuu - Russia's Perception of the Arctic
Professor Nikita Lomagin, Dept. of World Economy St.Petersburg State University, Russia - Report from the plenary session
Rapporteur: Dessislav Sabev
Roundtable Discussion: The Arctic Council and Multilateral Cooperation
- Human Security in the Circumpolar North: What Role for the Arctic Council?
Heather Exner-Pirot, PhD Candidate, University of Calgary - Indigenous Organizations in the Arctic Council
Victoria Gofman, Aleut International Association - Climate Change in the Arctic: Perspectives on Adaptation
Lotta Numminen, researcher in the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and PhD student at University of Helsinki - Russian Policy In The Arctic And The Arctic Council
Anton Vasiliev, Ambassador at Large, Senior Arctic Official of the Russian Federation - Report from the roundtable discussion
Rapporteur: Dr. Oliver Krone
Breakout Summaries
- Breakout summary, group 1
Rapporteur: Shirley Roburn - Breakout summary, group 2
Rapporteur: Audrey Giles
Position Papers
- Nordic Interests and the Future of the North
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland - Geopolitics of a Changing North
Lassi Heininen, Adjunct Professor, University of Lapland, Finland - Canada and the New Geopolitics of the North Pacific Rim
Lassi Heininen, Adjunct Professor, University of Lapland, Finland
Heather Nicol, Trent University, Canada - Multilateral Versus Unilateral Actions: Balancing the Needs for International Governance in the New Arctic
Rob Huebert, Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, Canadian International Council Research Fellow - Norwegian Interests, Norwegian Policy in the High North
Marit Nybakk, M.P. of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, Norway - Regional Cooperation in the High North and the Low North: Similar and Challenged?
Toms Rostoks, University of Latvia - Extended Security and Climate Change in the Regional and Global Context: A Historical Account
Willy Østreng, Ocean Futures, Centre for Advanced Study, Norway
Plenary Session II: The New Geography of a Warming North
- What can we learn from the ice sheets?
Gudfinna Adalgeirsdóttir, PhD., Danish Meteorological Institute - Environmental Change and Local Foodways in the Faroe Islands, a North Atlantic Artisanal Whaling Society
Russell Fielding, Ph.D. Student and Departmental Assistant, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University - Understanding Perceptions of Aquatic-Based Risk in Pangnirtung, Nunavut
Audrey Giles, Assistant Professor, School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa - A Preliminary History of the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd: Reconstructing the Past and Imagining the Future
Karen Hibbard-Rode, IGERT Trainee, Resilience and Adaptation Program, Biology and Wildlife Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks - Human Health and the Problem of Sustainable Development in the Arctic
Elena Piterskaya, PhD. in Ethnology, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS, Moscow - Report from the plenary session
Rapporteur: Lia Slemons
Breakout Summaries
- Breakout summary, group 1
Rapporteur: Lisa Cockburn - Breakout summary, group 2
Rapporteur: Lotta Numminen - Breakout summary, group 3
Rapporteur: Nicole Footen-Broomfield
Position Papers
- Population of mammals of boreal regions of Eurasia under climate changes
L.G. Emelyanova, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Geographical Department, Chair of Biogeography. - Study of the Transient Layer Developed in Permafrost-affected Soils of Southern Tundra (European Northe-East of Russia)
Dmitry Kaverin, Institute of Biology, Syktyvkar, Russia - Suicide in Inuit Nunaat: An analysis of Suicide Rates and the Effect of Community-level Factors
Christopher Penney, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; Sacha Senécal, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, University of Western Ontario; Eric Guimond, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, University of Western Ontario,Inter-University Centre for Demographich Study (CIED); Ellen Bobet, Confluence Research; and Sharamjit Uppal,Statistics Canada - Measuring Inuit Community Well-Being: The Canadian Inuit Community Well-Being Index
Sacha Senécal,Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, University of Western Ontario; Christopher Penney, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; and Erin O'Sulluvan, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, McMaster University - Background Paper on the Human Health Consequences of Climate Change in the Circumpolar North
Lawrence D. Weiss, PhD, MS, Alaska Center for Public Policy
NRF Theme Project Groups
Future of Northern Cooperation: Legal and Political Issues
- The Convention on the Law of the Sea and its Relevance for the Arctic Ocean
Dr. Dalee Sambo Dorough, Human Rights Advisor, Inuit Circumpolar Council and Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Alaska, Anchorage, USA - The Struggle for a Sustainable Energy Supply: Legal Challenges in the Implementation of Renewable Energy Polices in the Arctic
Maria Pettersson, Doctoral Student. Department of Social Science, Law Division, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden - The Importance of Legal Education and Inter-disciplinary Collaboration for the Future of Northern Cooperation
Dr. Natalia Loukacheva, Polar Law Program, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Department of Law, University of Akureyri, Iceland - Report from the theme project group 1
Rapporteur: Jussi Laine
Economies in the North -Migration
- Convergence or Divergence Comparing Current Economic Development Policies in the Russian and Canadian North
Andrey N Petrov, University of Northern Iowa; USA - Report from the theme project group 2
Rapporteur: Elena Piterskaya
Energy Issues
- Economics of Greenhouse Production in Alaska: Using the Greenhouse at Chena Hot Spring Resort as a Model
Markus Mager, Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska - Report from the theme project group 3
Rapporteur: Heather Exner-Pirot
Northern Sea Routes
- Report from the theme project group 4
Rapporteur: Rasmus Bertelsen
Climate Change - Northern Security/ies
- Report from the theme project group 5
Rapporteur: Lisa Cockburn
Project Session: How do we sustain and build healthy northern communities
- Adaptation and Reslilence of Salmon Fishing Economies in Soutwest Alaska
Davin Holen, Subsistence Resource Specialist, Division of Subsistence, Alaska Department of Fish and Game - Report from the project session
Rapporteur: Audrey Giles
Plenary Session III: The Accessible Arctic in the Global Economy
- Human Trafficking as a Human Rights Issue And Policy Responses of Arctic Nations
Nicole Footen, PhD., MSW, Director of Student Services:
School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA - The Arctic - Society, Markets, and Security
Oliver Krone, PhD., Germany: Senior Consultant, Promatis software GmbH - What Type of Global Governance Do We Need in Arctic?
Professor Sergei Sutyrin, World Economy Department Head St. Petersburg State University, Russia - Report from the plenary session
Rapporteur: Markus Mager
Breakout Summaries
- Breakout summary, group 1
Rapporteur: Karen Hibbard Rode - Breakout summary, group 2
Rapporteur: Drew Gerkey
Position Papers
- Sustainable Arctic Communities: A Proposal for the Early Introduction of Smart Electric microGrids, Renewable Energy and Electric Transportation in Remote Arctic Communities
Bill Adams, PhD, Canada - Far Eastern Oil Pipelines
D.B. Badmatsirenova and N.M. Gataullina, Technical Institute in Neriungry, Sakha State University, Russia - The Arctic and Challenges of the Exterior - Knowledge, ICT, and Autonomy
Dr. Oliver Krone - The Social Economy of Canada´s Aboriginal North
Dr. David C. Natcher, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Plenary Session IV: Leadership in the Age of Uncertainty
- At the Edges of Science: Dissolving Dichotomies and Transforming Power
Lisa Cockburn, Lisa M Cockburn, MSSc, University of Lapland - Cooperative Networks and Collective Institutions: opportunities and dilemmas for development on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula
Drew Gerkey, PhD. Candidate, Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. - Generation and Transmission of Environmental Knowledge and Land Skills in Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arctic
Tristan Pierce, PhD. Student, Dept. of Geography, University of Guelph - Equitable Anthropological Research Through Knowledge Sharing
Rosa Rut Thorisdottir, Ph.D., Université Paris Diderot-Paris - Report from the plenary session
Rapporteur: Heather Exner_Pirot
Breakout Summaries
- Breakout summary, group 1
Rapporteur: Andrey Petrov - Breakout summary, group 2
Rapporteur: Karen Hibbard Rode
Position Papers
- Revolution in Governance: A Matter of Global Necessity
Kirk Cameron and William J. Klassen - The Relationship Between Humans and the Environment from the Latvian Perspective
Gunda Reire, Chairperson of the Strategic Analysis Commission - Reshaping the North of Russia: towards a Conception of Space
Anna Stammler-Grossmann, Arctic Centre, Universityof Lapland, Finland
Closing Remarks
- Report from the plenary session
Rapporteur: Russell Fielding
List of Authors in Alphabetical Order
| Østreng, Willy | Position Paper |
| Pearce, Tristan | Proceeding Article, Report |
| Penney, Christopher | Position Paper |
| Petrov, Andrey N. | Proceeding Article, Report |
| Pettersson, Maria | Proceeding Article |
| Piterskaya, Elena | Proceeding Article, Report |
| Reire, Gunda | Position Paper |
| Roburn, Shirley | Report |
| Rostoks, Toms | Position Paper |
| Sabev, Dessislav | Report |
| Senécal, Sacha | Position Paper |
| Slemons, Lia | Report |
| Stammler-Grossman, Anna | Position Paper |
| Sutyrin, Sergei | Proceeding Article |
| Thórisdóttir, Rósa Rut | Proceeding Article |
| Vasiliev, Anton | Proceeding Article |
| Weiss, Lawrence D. | Position Paper |